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Patricia Urquiola brings breezy Spanish flair to an office complex in Frankfurt.
+ Chez Marie is a two-story cafe and cafeteria in Marienturm and Marienforum towers, which Patricia has outfitted in many of her own designs, including the Husk Sofa for B&B Italia and Silver Lake chairs for Moroso.
+ “The concept for this space is to represent the culinary diversity in the interior design, creating three thematic areas in different color moods,” she told Azure.
Photo courtesy of trueing.co
Glass artist Baku Takahashi brings his playful style to lighting with the Howdy, Neighbor collection.
+ The lamps are a colorful collaboration with Joshua Metersky and Aiden Bowman of Studio Trueing.
+ The collection is centered on humor, with multicolored playful shapes—even arms—sprouting out of each fixture.
Photo courtesy of Adora Goodenough/Unsplash
Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers’ famed Centre Pompidou in Paris will close for four years for a $243 million restoration.
+ Set to close in 2023 and hopefully reopen ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2027, the building will receive updates in safety, accessibility, and HVAC systems, as well as modernized computer systems and extensive window replacements.
+ During the renovation—the first substantial work to the building since it was completed in 1977—the museum is planning to take programming offsite.
Image courtesy of instagram.com/fabienbarrau
Rome shrouded in sand? Paris underwater? Fabien Barrau uses drone images to create visions of cities following a climate apocalypse.
+ The French digital artist’s News from the Future series portrays famous architectural landmarks broken down and under siege following the extreme effects of climate change.
+ Combining his drone photography and stock images, Fabien tried to imagine how climate-apocalypse survivors might uncover the ruins one day with “the same feeling as the archaeologists of the 19th century who discovered Pompeii,” he told Dezeen.
Photo courtesy of holidayplatitudes.com
Fisk and Kamp Grizzly are making decorative plates cool again with bold, Clipart-adjacent graphic design.
+ Coming off a discouraging, often-depressing year, the Portland-based design studios have teamed up to create six plates to bring positivity into 2021. Each plate focuses on one mantra—empathy, community, family, collaboration, gratitude, and goodwill.
+ Alongside the platitude plates, Kamp Grizzly created a series of retro, satirical infomercials for the plates that use “humor as a vehicle to deliver a sincere message,” Creative Director Justin Morris told It’s Nice That.
Photo courtesy of converse.com
Fashion iconoclast Rick Owens gives Converse its most radical design makeover yet.
+ Debuting at Paris Men’s Fashion Week, Rick’s Converse x DRKSHDW shoe features a square-toe bumper and extended tongue. “When I see something ubiquitous, I feel like I want to distort it,” he told Surface.
+ Rick’s partnership with Converse will extend throughout 2021, with Rick reimagining more of Converse’s classic shoes.
Photo courtesy of banemastudio.pt
Long live retail therapy: Check out these new design-focused shops from around the world.
+ Among the stores is Banema Studio, one of the leading retailers of wood products in Portugal. The interior designed in collaboration with Campos Costa Architects is defined by decorative panels made from green melamine and acrylic stone.
+ Meanwhile in Paris, Japanese restaurant Ogata is housed in a 17th-century hôtel particulier, reinterpreted by founder and designer Shinichiro Ogata.
Eny Parker’s handbuilt Oo Lamp. Eny’s mellow approach helps navigate clay’s unpredictable qualities. “I don’t get stressed easily. Like when things break or don’t work out, it’s not a big deal. I always try to involve my clients and explain exactly what’s happening and what our process is like. Anything could happen. They understand why our work takes so long and it’s priced the way it is.” Photo by Sean Davidson
The biggest influence on design this year? Fun.
+ Stuck at home, people are looking for playful furniture and design to liven up their spaces.
+ Designers such as Eny Lee Parker, Kusheda Mensah, and Ryan Preciado are taking charge of the new aesthetic, which has been described as “wiggly lines and freeform blobs.”
“We asked, ‘What are we trying to solve with this vehicle? Why bring it back? What’s the problem?’” says Paul Wraith, chief designer behind the latest Ford Bronco. “We started looking very, very deeply at our customers and really working out what was going on in their lives.” Photo courtesy of Ford
Say hello to Anthony Lo, the new head of design at Ford.
+ Anthony was most recently the vice president of exterior design for Renault and previously worked with Mercedes-Benz in Japan, Audi in Germany, Saab, and General Motors Europe.
+ The change comes after Moray Callum’s retirement and is just one of the latest senior-staffing shakeups at Ford since CEO Jim Farley took over in October.
@brianalldridgeUpdate on the pill bottle project. A huge thank you to everyone who has poured so many hours into this. ##science ##3dprinting ##parkinsonsdisease♬ So Fine – Trees and Lucy
Brian Alldridge designed a pill bottle for people with Parkinson’s disease—and TikTok users helped create a 3D-printed prototype to test it out.
+ Brian came up with the idea after seeing a video from Jimmy Choi, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at 27, about how he struggled with pill bottles.
+ TikTok users have jumped to help, using 3D printing to create, test, and refine the initial design.
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